JOANN Fabrics helps Cache Valley residents protect against COVID-19

Nibley residents have banded together to sew masks for those taking care of immunocompromised people.

LOGAN – Elizabeth Pierson’s eyes lit up as she grasped a Ziploc bag filled with elastic and patterns from the Logan JOANN Fabric and Craft Store.

Pierson, of Logan, was excited to design her fourth medical mask.

“In this winter weather and with the pandemic going on I think it brings a spark of light and makes it kind of brighter and more fun,” she said.

JOANN began a nationwide effort to help hospice workers, assisted living workers and others interacting with immunocompromised populations protect themselves by providing customers with kits to design their own medical masks.

“Hospitals and health care facilities across the country are running dangerously low on essential supplies, including masks and scrubs,” JOANN President and CEO Wade Miquelon wrote in a news release. “We launched an effort to help create these items from our donated materials. Crafters across the nation have jumped in to help and are sewing hundreds of thousands of protective masks, gowns and other essential items each day.”

Darlinda Gorle, manager of the Logan JOANN, said social media posts have inspired customers to participate in the store’s efforts.

“It’s amazing how social media has picked it up,” Gorle said. “Probably every other phone call I’ve had is because of something they’d seen on Facebook.”

Gorle added she thinks social media has improved the lives of many during the COVID-19 epidemic and nationwide quarantine.

“I think social media is really good right now,” she said. “Social media gets a lot of bad rep but I think it’s good right now, I think it’s helping a lot of people cope right now and there’s a lot of information out there.”

Pierson said in addition to benefiting a good cause, making the masks brings her a sense of enjoyment and relief.

“You can put fun patterns on them,” she said, adding she just finished a lama-printed mask. “It kind of brightens a day for professionals who have to use these masks.”

Peggy Reese, another customer making a mask for the effort, said it helps her fulfill a humanitarian role she sees as vital.

“It’s just something I can do to help, I always like to do humanitarian things so I’m just trying to help out,” she said.